Baseline: The Cave
by PaigeRhiann
Summary: Sasuke wakes to find Naruto missing, when he eventually finds the boy; he's being tormented by the bloodlusting creature within. Sasuke/Naruto SasuNaru. Warning: Yaoi. This is the baseline for a series of random oneshots that will follow Enjoy.


**Hey! So, this is the first FanFic I've written in a long, long time. I've loosely based it around Shippuden, however, in my story Sasuke hasn't run off like a douche (no offense Sasuke fans, I was super sad when he did that – he broke mine and Naruto's hearts that day).  
So yeah... This is the base story for a few follow on one-shots that I've been thinking of which I shall write soon ^^ If there are any grammar/spelling mistakes or anything that is unclear let me know so I can edit (: I hope everyone enjoys this and reads the other stories to follow.**

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Sasuke groaned and rolled onto his back, folding his blanket down to allow the cold air to cool his sweaty torso, he quickly sat up, pressing his palm to his forehead and using his thumb and forefinger to gently massage his temple, he then glanced around him. The cave was dark; their fire having burnt out at some point during the night, Kakashi was sat up against the stone wall; dozing lightly with a kunai in his hand in case of attack. Sakura was laid with her head on her backpack with her blanket tucked up to her chin as she shivered slightly, and when he glanced to his left; instead of looking at a sleeping blonde like he expected, Sasuke saw... nothing. The place Naruto had occupied when the raven had fallen asleep was empty, his backpack was gone and the indentation of shoe prints we pressed into the dusty ground of the cave.

"Naruto?" He whispered as the howling wind blew snow into the entrance of the cave. When he received no reply, Sasuke hissed his name again; waiting before being met with silence. Without a second thought, the raven pushed his blanket away and reached for his blue shirt, quickly tugging it over his head. As quietly as possible, he secured the ties on his shoes and pulled his cloak around him before fastening it and lifting the hood, he glanced round before gently laying his blanket over Sakura.

Taking one step at a time, Sasuke slowly made his way towards the mouth of the cave, hoping to follow the blonde's footprint to find him but when he reached the entrance, he sighed, the harsh blizzard had covered his tracks, Sasuke sighed a second time before leaping out into the snow. He ran first towards the nearby lake (which was currently frozen and covered in a thick layer of snow) trying to sense any remnants of Naruto's chakra which would suggest the blonde had been there recently, when he found nothing he just began to hop from tree to tree in the nearby area and after about ten minutes of running he found a trace of the boy's chakra which was attached to a half-covered footprint on a tree branch.

A small smile settled on Sasuke's lips before he took off at full speed, the chakra signature growing the closer he got, it wasn't until he got within hearing distance that Sasuke felt it. Naruto's chakra was getting weaker while another was getting stronger, _'Shit, he's under attack'_ Sasuke thought as he once again leapt forward but when he broke the edge of the trees, he stopped.

"What the–?" he muttered, his eyebrows furrowing.

Before him was the blonde but instead of the boy being surrounded by enemy ninja like he'd expected, there was only Naruto, stood on the edge of a cliff looking at the drop below. He watched as the blonde didn't move and again, Sasuke sensed a chakra; one filled with anger and hatred. Sasuke knew he'd felt that before but he couldn't think where.

It wasn't until he took a step closer that he saw it. There was a red glow that surrounded Naruto which caused the snow in the area around him to melt into a slushy puddle.

"Naruto" Sasuke called out, trying to make his voice heard over the wind. When he blonde didn't move, Sasuke took a few steps closer, having to direct charka to his feet to keep himself from being blown away by the wind.

"Naruto" he repeated, coming to a stop behind the boy and reaching for his shoulder. "Hey, dobe, what are you doing out here?"

The blonde turned slowly and Sasuke resisted the urge to take a step back. The boy's teeth has extended, displaying two very large and sharp fangs, his usual baby blue eyes were narrowed and a blood red colour while his whiskers and hair had grown.

"Naruto..?" he whispered yet again, preparing his body in case he needed to run. "are you okay?"

"I couldn't stay there" the blonde muttered back, so quietly that Sasuke barely heard it over the wind and despite that his brain was screaming at him now to, he leaned closer.

"Stay where?" he prompted

"In that cave, he was trying to control me but I swear, Sasuke, I wouldn't do it" Naruto raised his head and his red eyes locked with Sasuke's black ones, Naruto's hand reached out and grabbed the raven's wrist, desperately digging his nails into the pale skin; Sasuke could feel how sharp the blonde's nails had become as well as the blood that trickled down and dripped onto the snow, while Naruto's red chakra spread and engulfed Sasuke into the red glow.

"What wouldn't you do Naruto?" Sasuke urged, trying not to wince or break their gaze.

"Kill you"

The words seemed to hang in the air, filling the air they breathed. The raven struggled for a response but luckily, Naruto continued to babble.

"It's Kyuubi, he's hungry. He woke me up and I saw you lying there and I could see your blood pumping in the vein in your neck. I could smell you. I could _hear_ your heartbeat" he took a ragged breath "But Sasuke, I wouldn't. I wouldn't..."

"I believe you" Sasuke replied honestly, knowing the blonde was serious from the way he spoke.

"I refused and Kyuubi got angry with me..." Naruto swallowed as tears welled up in his eyes "He- He showed me the war. I made me watch as the Fourth di–" he couldn't finish, his voice cracking as he came to a stop.

"So you left? You could have woken me..."

"No, I shouldn't be around people"

"Is that why you came here? To get away?" Sasuke asked, knowing he didn't really want to know the answer.

"The villagers were right." He sighed "I should have been killed after Kyuubi was put inside of me. I shouldn't be alive."

"Don't–" Sasuke growled.

"But it's true. I'm a danger to everyone I love."

"Do any of us care? If we didn't want danger then we wouldn't be ninja, would we?"

Silence. Naruto just sighed and shook his head while Sasuke glared down at the younger boy. Eventually, the blonde let his eyes fall to the floor before turning and peering over the edge, not releasing his grasp on the raven.

"I came here to jump. I thought about it and I was going to jump. Did you know that if I die then Kyuubi dies too? But his chakra is so great that he heals me, he doesn't let me die, he _won't_" Naruto sighed

"What about all the people you would leave behind?" Sasuke growled, trying to reign in his flaring temper. "What about everyone who would cry over your death? Are you seriously so selfish to do that?"

Naruto glanced up again, staring at the other boy with a expression of confusion. He blinked a few times before taking a deep breath. "What about you?" he asked "would you cry?"

Sasuke frowned, he hadn't been expecting that. "Naruto, do you remember when we were little and we first met?" he asked abruptly, not waiting for a reply. "You were the first person to speak to me normally after Itachi killed everyone, you smiled and although I didn't accept it well, you pushed your way into my life and became my friend."

Naruto chuckled darkly, his unnerving red eyes staring into Sasuke's as he spoke.

"You remained my friend. You've fought for my life on more than one occasion, you've kept me sane while simultaneously driving me crazy and for that... I wouldn't cry"

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed and he gripped Sasuke's arm tighter, causing the blood to flow faster towards the snow, tainting it.

"I wouldn't cry" he repeated "I would follow you. I would join you and be as good a friend to you in death as you were to me in life."

"Are you... are you serious?" a shell-shocked Naruto whispered

"Incredibly."

No more words were passed but they continued to stare and Naruto took a step forward, releasing Sasuke's wrist (much to the raven's delight) before wrapping his arms around the taller boy.

"Thank you" he said, burrowing slightly into the warmth of Sasuke's cloak. Sasuke reluctantly returned the hug, the close contact unfamiliar to him and then, slowly, the red chakra surrounding them retreated and the snow began to hit them full force again but neither boy moved.

It wasn't until Sasuke felt the younger boy shaking that he pulled away. "Come on, we should get you back to the cave"

"Wait... can you just stand here with me? Just for a little longer?"

Sasuke nodded, quickly removed his cloak and wrapping it around the shivering boy before he could protest, once the raven had fastened it around his neck, Naruto smiled at him sadly, all signs of the Kyuubi gone from his face.

"You'd really die for me?" he asked quietly

"Without a second thought" the other replied smoothly.

"Thank you" he repeated, the edges of his lips twitching into a smile.

Acting on a whim before he could convince himself that it was a bad idea, he wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist and pulled him close before pressing his lips against the boy's forehead.

"Anytime" he muttered back.

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**Well... thanks for sticking that out I guess :L hopefully it wasn't too awful. I know the characters went a little OOC but I just needed a few things to happen, blah, blah, blah. Review if you so wish and I shall post soon my little munchkins .**


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